by Mark Stone
I huffed loudly. The man had a point. I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, but I wasn’t sure stranding everyone on Cabbage Key was going to make them any safer. The Russians wanted to fix their standings in the card game and up their chances of winning the chance to buy the Linchpin. Now that the ship was docking and the game was off, there was no telling what they would do. Anything was possible, and it was that sort of variable that scared me the most.
“This area is controlled,” I said, trying to stay as calm as possible. “There are safeguards in place, and while they’re not perfect and you and your people obviously have a long way to go to be able to call yourselves effective, it is something. It’s more than they’ll get if you throw desperate killers on an island.”
“We’ve made up our minds, Mr. Lucky,” Oliver said, pushing past me and knocking my shoulder back a little. “Even if your words did change my mind, which they didn’t, we have a new owner this year. Word got back to her about what’s happened, and she made her position on the matter very clear. We are to put an end to this cruise immediately. We are to dock at the closest area which allows for it, and that area is Cabbage Key. Now, as an idly rich man, I don’t expect you to understand what it means to have to answer to anyone, especially a business superior. I, on the other hand, am quite versed in such manners. So, one final time, let me explain to you what this means. We’re going to Cabbage Key, and that’s final. You can either disembark from this ship when it docks like every other passenger here or you can be arrested and spend the rest of this nightmare behind bars in one of the jail cells we have onboard. You have no other options. I do hope you’ll choose wisely.”
I watched the short, stubby man walk away, and I suddenly wished I wouldn’t have stopped myself from punching him earlier. “What a dick,” I muttered.
23
If Bonita Springs was paradise, and it was, then Cabbage Key was paradise concentrated. A long sliver of an island that held as many restaurants, beachside bars, and bungalows in one strip than I had seen in all of Bonita Springs, this place was unabashedly a tourist trap. It was built on the beauty of its surroundings, the Gulf, and the sort of fishing and snorkeling businesses that should always spring up in places like this. And rum. We can’t forget rum. Or, at least, that must have been Random’s thought, given as how she was halfway through a piña colada when I came across her at Wet Whistles, one of the many beachside drinking establishments I saw the instant we got off the boat. Charlotte was beside her, drinking nothing and looking off into the Gulf with her arms crossed over her chest.
“This is so stupid,” Random said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she set her drink down.
“I agree,” I said, pulling up a chair and plopping down beside the pair. They looked as uncomfortable with each other as I would have looked sitting next to a great white shark. I guess it was safe to say that Charlotte hadn’t warmed up to the stowaway reporter yet. “Once the Russians get off the ship with Scott, finding him will be a hundred times harder.”
“I’m betting they’re already off the boat,” Random said.
“I don’t see how,” Charlotte chimed in. “There are people watching every inch of that ship. Oliver said so about a million times.”
“If Oliver were half as good as he thought he was, I’d have never gotten onto that ship in the first place. I have very little doubt that I could sneak back on now if I needed to,” Random answered.
“She’s right,” I said. “The security on the ship isn’t nearly as good as they put on, but that’s beside the point. The point is, Scott is missing and the Linchpin is still up for grabs. My goal was to find out where it was being kept, who had it, or how it was even going to be transmitted to the winner. But now that everything is turned upside down and the tournament is cancelled, I have no idea how to move forward.”
“Who says the tournament is cancelled?” Random asked, running a finger over the edge of her glass and staring at me.
“What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “The cruise is cancelled. We can’t even get back on the boat until further notice. I just assumed—”
“You know what they say about assuming things, Lucky,” Random said. “But yeah, the official tournament is cancelled. There’s no doubt about that, but I made some connections last night.”
“That didn’t take long,” I muttered.
“Yeah, I wonder what methods she used,” Charlotte said, rolling her eyes.
“Shut up.” Random sneered at Charlotte before turning back to me. “Anyway, my connection tells me that the tournament is still very much on, albeit in an unofficial capacity. They’re having it tonight at six in the back room of this swanky club called Del Mar. He was very insistent on the fact that all the rules were still the same. So, I guess if the Linchpin were being auctioned off to the winner before, it still is now.”
“You’re not serious,” I said, pushing away from the table and standing up. Running hands through my hair, I looked over at Charlotte. “You know what this means.”
“That the world might still come to a sharp and quick end,” Charlotte answered, looking up at me like I was insane.
“That we can still fix this,” I answered. “If everything is still the same, if the winner of the tournament still gets the Linchpin, then don’t you get it? All I have to do is win the tournament.”
“And all Neil Armstrong had to do was walk on the moon,” Random said. “Why are you saying that like it’s easy?”
“Do you even know anything about poker?” Charlotte asked, though she still didn’t turn to look at Random.
“I know enough,” I answered. “My grandfather used to love the game. In fact, he’s who taught Scottie to play, and that guy is like the number-one poker player in the world now. Certainly, I’d have to be just as good.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Random said. “Don’t you think that if you had the potential to be the greatest poker player in the world, you’d have known it by now? Not to mention the little matter of the buy-in. I doubt that whoever is still holding this tournament will let you just skate on in while everyone else there had to put up fifty million dollars for the honor. I mean, you’re charming, Lucky. But nobody is that charming.”
“I don’t need to be charming, even though I’d challenge you on that,” I answered. “Because I have the buy in. You seem to have forgotten about the little matter of my having won the lottery.”
“You’re going to throw fifty million dollars away to embarrass yourself in front of the best poker players in the world for an outside chance of being able to get your hands on a set of source codes?” Charlotte asked me, her eyes wide. “Don’t you get it, John? You’re not good enough, not nearly.”
“I sure am,” I answered in a strong voice. “And you don’t have to be good when you’re lucky, Charlotte. You should know that.”
“Oh, God,” she said, finally turning to Random. “We’re doomed. We’re all doomed.”
“That stunning show of confidence aside, I’m going to need you to pull your best dress from your luggage. If I’m going to a swanky club, I’m going to need to bring someone with me. Besides, you can keep an eye out for me in case anything looks to be weird.”
“This whole thing is weird,” Charlotte muttered. “But, of course.”
“And me?” Random asked. “I’m obviously your best asset here. What am I supposed to be doing while the two of you are playing Castle all night?”
My body tensed a little. “You said you could sneak back into the ship if you had to. Were you serious about that?”
“As a heart attack,” she answered.
“Good, because I’m going to need you to do something for me. I have a hunch, and if I’m right, it’ll change everything.”
24
“You look amazing,” I said, looking at Charlotte as she opened the door to the room the cruise ship had supplied for us after we were unceremoniously dumped from the boat. Charlotte was dre
ssed in a red gown with a slit going up the side high enough to cause my heart to speed up when I saw just how much leg the woman had exposed. The dress was strapless and her hair was pulled up, leaving her neck and shoulders naked, save for a diamond necklace draped around her throat.
“You sound surprised,” she said, looking me up and down and smiling. “And you don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Lucky.” She turned, and if the movement wasn’t performed solely to give me a nice view as she walked away, the amount of swing in her steps would have definitely fooled me.
“Much appreciated,” I answered, following her into what had to be one of the nicest rooms at one of the nicest resorts that Cabbage Key had to offer. This place was a bungalow, with crystal glass walls and the sort of giant canopy bed that should be exclusive to either couples on their honeymoons or couples doing practice runs. Still, with all the beauty surrounding me, including a room that looked panoramically out at the beach and the Gulf at sunset, I couldn’t tear my eyes off Charlotte. That’s how beautiful she looked tonight. “And let’s not say surprised,” I added, trying to keep my voice steady and calm. “Let’s say I’m pleasantly reminded.”
“Smooth as ever, sir,” she purred. Rounding a wet bar, she pulled a bottle of scotch out and poured a couple of glasses.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at the woman as she filled both glasses. “I hear those mini-bar things can be quite pricey.”
“I don’t know if you heard,” she said, twisting the lid back on and putting it away. “But I came into some money recently. Besides, who are you to talk about things being pricey? You’re giving away more money than most people would ever see in ten lifetimes just to play a card game.”
“A card game that could help save the world,” I reminded her.
“My hero,” she answered almost sarcastically. “Now, come over here and pick up one of these glasses. If the world is hanging on what we do tonight, then the last thing I want is to have to drink alone.”
“If the world is hanging on what we do tonight, then maybe the smart thing would be not to drink at all,” I answered, though I was already on my way to the bar.
“Being smart never was much fun, though, was it?” she asked, taking a sip from her drink. “Besides, if I remember correctly, alcohol played a big role in things the last time you and I faced trouble.”
“You’re right,” I said, smiling despite myself as I picked up the glass, brought it to my lips, and let my mind wander back to the day I met Charlotte. “I kicked that son of a bitch’s ass with a champagne bottle, didn’t I?”
“You did,” she confirmed. “And it was quite impressive. And later that night, we popped open the very same bottle and celebrated.”
“If I’m remembering that night correctly, I think I was even more impressive then,” I answered, grinning.
“I don’t remember having any complaints,” she said. “Maybe I should have gotten champagne instead of scotch.”
“Maybe you should have,” I said, finishing up my drink in another gulp and setting it back down hard on the counter.
“Maybe I’ll get some later,” she said. “Maybe I’ll celebrate with you again after all of this is over.”
“I’d definitely like that,” I said, biting my lip as I looked her up and down.
“I think we both would,” she said. “Assuming we don’t doom the world to nuclear winter or anything by then.”
“Life is so crazy,” I muttered. “Did you ever imagine, back in that truck stop, that this was how things would turn out? That we’d be on some weird gorgeous island in the Gulf trying to stop terrorists from buying government secrets?”
“I don’t think anyone thinks that while they’re in a truck stop,” Charlotte said, chuckling. It was a cute, small thing that sent warmth running up into my chest.
“Point taken,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “Do you think we made any of it better, though?”
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked, narrowing those beautiful eyes at me.
“I mean, look at us,” I said, splaying my hands out in front of me. “Our lives are insane, and all of that started because of what happened that day. I don’t know what your life was like before I met you, and maybe that’s a bad thing. Maybe I should have asked those questions before I decided to impose myself on you and—”
“And what? Give me ten million dollars?” Charlotte said. “Trust me, regardless of what my life was like before that, I wouldn’t have turned it down.”
“I get it,” I said. “I just wonder how things might have turned out if that guy had never walked into the truck stop that day. I wonder if we might have—”
“Ended up together?” Charlotte asked, a smile spreading across her face. “You’re going to make me blush, John.”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” I answered, shaking my head. “I was going to say that I wondered if we would be happier than we are right now.”
“Are you not happy?” Charlotte asked. “Because from the outside, it looks like you’re having the time of your life, I’ve gotta say.”
I thought about that for a moment, about everything that had happened since I had boarded this ship, everything that had happened since I made my way to Bonita Springs. It wasn’t peaceful or light. In fact, it could get heavy and downright scary, but I’d be the biggest liar in the world if I said I wasn’t having the time of my life.
“Well . . .” I muttered.
“I knew it!” Charlotte said, practically dancing where she stood. “You’re so predictable. I mean, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just a thing, but you are.”
“Oh, shut up,” I said. “It doesn’t look like you’re hating too much of it, either.”
“What can I say?” Charlotte asked. “I guess you’re starting to rub off on me.”
“Is that right?” I asked, looking at her and circling the bar. “How about I rub off on you a little bit more?”
“Why, Lucky John, are you trying to seduce me?” Charlotte asked, staring at me with bedroom eyes.
“That depends,” I said.
“On what?” she asked.
“On whether it’s working,” I answered.
Charlotte laughed loudly. “Does this answer your question?” Her voice was as soft as silk as she made her way toward me. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she threw herself on her tiptoes and plunged her lips into mine. It was a deep, hot, familiar kiss. And I lost myself in it immediately.
Unfortunately, the sound of the door being knocked off its hinges pulled me right out of that sweet moment. Jerking my head away from Charlotte, I looked toward the source of the noise.
There, standing where the door used to be, were Oliver and his goons, Maxwell among them.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, looking at the door on the floor and shaking my head.
“Making an entrance,” Oliver said, his lips pulled back into a snarl. “I know what you did, Lucky John, and now you’re going to pay for it.”
25
Shooting Charlotte a look meant to tell her to stay put, I hopped over the counter and walked toward Oliver, Maxwell, and the others. I had no idea what Oliver was talking about, though judging by the look on his pudgy face as well as the words he spat out after he broke the door, whatever he thought I needed to pay for wasn’t a good thing.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked, anger rising in me. “We’re not on the damn Diamond Mine anymore, Oliver. You don’t have the power or authority to just walk into whatever room you want. You could get hurt doing something like that.”
Oliver’s face got even redder than it already was. He looked like a walking, balding tomato as he spoke, his jaw tensed up so tightly that I could barely understand what he was saying.
“Y–You’re right, Mr. Lucky,” he stammered. “We’re not on the Diamond Mine anymore, and that means I’m not held to the standards I would be if we were still onboard. You are no longer a
guest aboard the ship I love, and as such, I don’t have to treat you with the respect and honor I’d give a guest. Instead, I can treat you like the common criminal you are.”
“Criminal?” I asked, barely holding in my laughter. “I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, dude, but criminal isn’t one of them. Besides, from where I’m standing, you’re the one guilty of property damage. I was just minding my own business, having a conversation with this lovely lady, when you took it upon yourself to destroy something that didn’t belong to you. Although, I think we both know one of your security detail did this, seeing as how you’d need a wrecking ball and a skilled man to operate it if you ever wanted to knock that door off its hinges. So, let me ask you, which one of us is actually on the wrong side of the law?”
“I’ll be giving this hotel more than enough to cover the cost of the door,” Oliver answered. “As well as whatever damage has to be done to this room should you decide not to come along with us peacefully.”
“And why the hell would I go anywhere peacefully with you?” I balked. “You burst in here, threatening me and calling me a criminal without even telling me what I did. Plus, you do me the injustice of assuming that these idiots here actually have a chance of taking me anywhere I don’t want to go. No offense, Max,” I said, glancing over at Maxwell for just a moment. Like a good soldier, he held the line, showing no change in expression.
“You’re a thief, Mr. Lucky,” Oliver said, “nothing more than a common thief. You stole from me. You took what was mine, something I worked for, something I did a lot more than work for. And now you have the audacity to pretend not to know why I’m upset.” The pudgy man shook his head hard. “I knew you would be trouble. I sensed as much. If it had been up to me, I’d have set sail while you were still pulling your luggage from your trunk.” He shook his head hard. “But the new owner had to have you here. She had to have both of you. I dreaded it for months before the cruise, but there was nothing I could do.”